Catching Criminals, Recapture $60 Billion Lost Every Year To Medicare & Medicaid Fraud

Main Category: Medicare / Medicaid / SCHIP
Article Date: 07 May 2009 - 4:00 PDT

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Today, Ranking Member Senator Mel Martinez (R-FL) and Chairman Senator Herb Kohl (D-WI) of the Special Committee on Aging examined the fraud afflicting Medicare & Medicaid costing taxpayers an estimated $60 billion each year to Medicare and Medicaid fraud scams. This fraud diverts resources that are supposed to finance health care for 43 million American seniors and the disabled. This hurts Medicare and Medicaid recipients, the legitimate businesses trying to serve those patients, and all taxpayers.

"Entitlement fraud is out of control and we have 60 billion reasons why it needs to be addressed," said Martinez, the lead Republican on the Senate Special Committee on Aging. "Criminals posing as medical equipment suppliers drain more than 60 billion dollars a year from Medicare and Medicaid, dollars that are stolen before they can be used to aid millions of American seniors and the disabled with their health care needs. Wise spending and keeping a current account of every dollar will directly meet the health care needs of our nation, end the current practice of 'pay and chase,' and become the first step in greater health care reform."

"We need to make sure that every dollar spent by a public or private health plan goes to quality health care, not to line the pockets of a scam artist or criminal," said Committee Chairman Herb Kohl (D-WI)

Testifying before the committee today, James Frogue, Project Director for the Center for Health Transformation said:

"The tens of billions of dollars lost in Medicaid and Medicare to fraud and abuse each year not only cheat taxpayers, honest doctors and hospitals, but also 100 million poor and elderly Americans who depend on these vital services. Fortunately there are dozens of proactive solutions Senators can adopt on a bipartisan basis that would be tremendously helpful to patients and honest doctors at the expense of crooks."

Senator Martinez recently introduced two efforts targeted at detecting and preventing Medicare and Medicaid waste, fraud, and abuse. The Seniors and Taxpayers Obligation Protection or "STOP" Act will work to reduce the estimated loss of more than $60 billion every year by creating fraud prevention and detection systems. The Medicaid Accountability through Transparency or "MAT" Act will require transparency in billing for services and medical equipment.

"These steps will help protect seniors and doctors from identity theft, keep criminals from becoming Medicare providers, and strengthen data mining and matching to catch criminals currently in Medicare in real time," said Martinez.

Source
Senator Mel Martinez

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